On 25 June 2025, Maersk announced the launch of its new Trade & Tariff Studio, a free, self-service digital tool designed to support businesses with product classification and customs and tariff management..
The tool is aimed at improving decision-making in international trade by providing visibility into customs duties, taxes, and regulatory requirements..
According to Maersk, while the Trade & Tariff Studio is designed to work seamlessly within Maersk’s integrated logistics services, it can also be used as a stand-alone tool by cargo owners.. As per Maersk data,
- Around 5–6% of duties are routinely overpaid, mainly due to a lack of centralised trade data and optimisation..
- One in five shipment delays is linked to poor customs preparation..
- Although over 650 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) exist globally, only half of eligible shipments actually take advantage of them.. The rest miss out on cost savings because of the complexity and lack of clarity on how FTAs apply at both origin and destination..
The studio also reportedly provides access to applicable preferential trade agreements, allowing users to assess cost-saving opportunities..
“For decades, global trade benefited from declining tariffs and fewer barriers. But for now, that has been put on hold. Today’s environment is defined by unpredictability, with newly imposed and suddenly postponed tariffs creating what many of our customers describe as ‘tariff chaos’.
Maersk Trade & Tariff Studio is our answer to this challenge—bringing clarity, compliance, agility and cost optimization to global supply chains when goods are crossing borders.” wrote Lars Karlsson, Global Head of Trade & Customs Consulting at Maersk
This online studio is available through a self-service interface and, as per the company’s release, combines:
- AI-powered tariff engineering and optimization, ensuring the correct application of over 6,000 product codes and 20,000+ sub-codes.
- Upstream compliance risk screening, helping customers avoid delays, detentions, and penalties.
- Real-time updates from data partners, as well as Maersk’s network of 2,700 customs experts across the globe, all feeding tariff and regulation changes into a unified system.
The Trade & Tariff Studio rollout will begin on 28 June 2025, initially for U.S. import flows, with a global rollout planned for August..
The launch comes at a time when tariff regimes are growing more complex due to geopolitical and regional trade policy shifts, making accurate landed cost forecasting more important than ever..
Along with this launch, however, there are questions :
- Is this the type of tool that global traders—especially SMEs and freight intermediaries—will use regularly..??
- Would a platform like this meaningfully improve your trade planning or compliance workflow..??
- Is there a genuine need for centralised, accessible tariff tools—or are most players already relying on internal brokers or customs agents for this..??
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Does this fill a real gap in your trade operations, or do you see it as just another checkbox in the growing digital toolset from carriers..??
Share your thoughts in the comments..
